I recently started learning Forex as it is closely intertwined with my degree (Economics) and I’m attempting to further my knowledge of currency trading and also the wider macro economy, in unison. The primary reason is not to earn buckloads of cash ASAP, but to develop the skills required to work in a high pressure industry such as options or the futures market.
I am inquisitive to know how successful traders managed to find mentors and teachers who have helped in honing their skills and offloading personal insights into markets?
It’s no difference than university. You have good and bad mentors and teachers. Just like in university you tend to identify more with ones that are more like your personality. Just like in university, just because you don’t identify with a professor, doesn’t mean their no good, mostly means you don’t get what they’re teaching the same as you do, with one who more fits your personality. My opinion anyway.
Short term gains are not the same as long term success. I found again my opinion, that you need 3 things to have long term success in forex.
You need a very strong understanding of the foreign exchange market and how it works. Your degree should cover you there.
The next thing is a basic understanding of trading in the foreign exchange. These 2 are different and most traders don’t understand that,. You can get this basic trading knowledge by simply going through the baby pips school on this site. When done you should be able to apply what you’ve learned in with your degree and how to apply s to everyday trading.
The above 2 gives you a strong foundation. Lastly you need a trading strategy that based on the balance of probabilities will give you an advantage to be more right than wrong over the long term. You. Next you need a money management strategy that like all businesses, will keep you in business and along with that you have to develop a mindset that builds patience, understanding humility and long term thinking. First one is easy as long as you remember, nothing is free, no shortcuts, secrets, magical formulas or never before revealed. 2nd one. I have one simple rule. Always Always under all circumstances protect your trading account and only think long term not one trade or one session. The third. Simply takes time to develop.
Looking for a teacher for something or mentor, this is what I do. I find someone I identify with, then I look at the relevant facts, who are they, how long they been doing this, does what they’re saying make sense, etc, then I look at my options then pick the least of the evils. A lot how you would or should have decided on what courses you take that fit with your degree.
Again my opinion & hope it helps
Gp
Most of the traders that I know that are successful are, for the most part, self-taught. They invested a lot of time, trial and error, learning how to trade through experience. That does not mean that they did not learn from others by absorbing knowledge that was freely available and/or by paying for books/courses etc…
Ultimately, whether or not you find someone that is willing and able to take you by the hand and explain things to you, you are still going to have to invest the time to understand what you are doing, how to adapt to different market conditions, how to apply proper money management and assess your risk-tolerance while also developing patience and controlling your emotions etc… It takes time and practice.
The difference between knowing the ‘how/what’ and understanding the ‘why’ is not always easy to articulate. Some things need to be learned through experience.
That being said, there are ample, free resources available, online, that will provide you with a good understanding of the basics and allow you to develop a trading strategy that you can use to practice with on a demo account. Once you determine what kind of trading style that you prefer, spend a lot of time developing a suitable trading strategy and master it.
It sounds like you may be leaning more towards fundamentals, though, but just the same…figure out what kind of data matters the most and analyze how the market reacts. I do not trade on fundamentals, but I am sure that there are ample resources available for that, as well.
Unfortunately, finding a good mentor may be difficult to accomplish over the internet. There are so many internet marketers and cookie-cutter type courses that may not offer you much in the way of personal attention. If you do find someone that you like, just be sure that whatever they are teaching correlates with your preferred trading style, else it might be difficult to remain interested, causing you to quit.
The self-taught process was my initial understanding as to how most traders develop, and I am aware that trading talents do not develop overnight and require years of testing, learning, winning and then implementing. This is a common trait of all expertise and mastery in any field, regardless of industry, in my opinion.
However, thank you for highlighting the fact that following people who do not have the same style of ‘play’ as myself may lead to me losing interest, as this is something I would have not previously considered.
I will heed your advice and proceed with cautious optimism regarding mentors
Mentoring is a responsibility; a commitment that requires valuable time and focused attention to assure the mentee’s goals are progressing forward. If you have one steady mentor that is adding value to your career and life, you’re fortunate. Trading mentor can be very profitable for you.
